A study was conducted to develop organic briquettes using biomass originating from slaughterhouse wastes and to investigate its potential as a nutrient source for plant growth.Dried rumen contents were mixed with fresh blood collected after bleeding of animals in different proportions and dried using tray drier. The dried rumen content-blood (RB) mixture was further mixed with commercially available coir pith in 12 different proportions. The rumen content-blood-coir pith (RBC) mixture was formed into briquettes using a hydraulic biomass briquetting machine. Each organic briquette was 5 cm in diameter and had an average weight of 30-40 g. The treatments were analyzed for pH, moisture content, electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen, carbon: nitrogen ratio, total phosphorus and total potassium. Organic briquette having rumen content with 100 % blood and 80 % coir pith (T10) recorded the highest total nitrogen, total phosphorus and total potassium content. The treatments for plant growth studies were selected based on the criteria that each treatment had highest values for at least two of the three primary nutrients of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The treatments T5, T7, T8, T10 and T12 were selected for plant growth studies. Pot experiment using selected briquettes was carried out to determine the effect of selected briquettes on growth parameters and yield attributes of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus).Nutrient release pattern of the selected organic briquettes was also studied. The best desirable growth parameters and yield attributes of okra was observed in T10. Availability of nutrients in the medium were relatively less during first two months of planting (MAP), however, it significantly increased between 3 MAP and 4 MAP, which resulted in better plant growth and fruit yield. The study showed that there is great potential for development of organic briquettes using slaughter house wastes as an eco-friendly process, which are compact, easy to transport and market, and ideal for grow bag cultivation and garden nurseries.

The study on the evaluation of carcass characteristics of Gramasree hens by feeding fresh black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) as soya bean meal replacer at 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 per cent levels was carried out at University Poultry and Duck Farm, Mannuthy, Thrissur, Kerala, for a period of 8 weeks. Eighty numbers of 40 week old Gramasree hens were allotted to five treatment groups with four replicates each and with four birds in each replicate. Slaughter parameters like pre-slaughter body weight, dressing percentage and eviscerated percentage were not affected by the inclusion of fresh BSFL. Abdominal fat was significantly (p<0.05) lower in BSFL fed groups compared to control. Breast yield was significantly (p<0.05) lower in 75 and 100 per cent groups compared to control. No significant difference was noticed in thighs yield. Drumsticks yield was significantly (p<0.05) lower in 50 per cent group and wing yield was significantly (p<0.05) lower in 50 and 100 per cent replacement groups compared to control. The heart, liver and gizzard yield were not affected by BSFL feeding. This study concludes that although fresh BSFL contains higher percentage of ether extract, the presence of chitin and chitosan prevents the abdominal fat deposition and also influences certain carcass characteristics negatively.

Biowaste management is a pertinent problem and nutrient recycling utilizing fly larvae is an emerging solution. The leachate produced during biowaste management has potential implications for the environment but studies on this issue are scanty. This study was conducted to assess the characteristics of leachate produced during the bioconversion of food (BW-I) and poultry slaughter waste (BW-II) by natural fly larval activity. The results showed that total volumes of 2.2 L and 1.1 L leachate were produced for BW-I and II respectively. The highest pH in BW-I leachate was 7.43 ± 0.01 and the lowest pH in BW-II was 3.30 ± 0.12. The highest levels of BOD in BW-I and II were 36733.33 ± 430.63 mg/l and 2800.000 ± 999.50 mg/l. The highest level of COD in BW-I was 52575.000 ± 1076.86mg/l while in BW-II it was 4316.67 ± 790.45 mg/l. The high BOD and COD values of the leachate indicated that they needed to be pretreated before being released into the environment.

Service slaughter houses in the country generate large quantities of animal blood, manure and rumen contents as waste material. Eco-friendly disposal of such waste often requires long time or expensive equipment. The study was conducted to develop organic briquettes using biomass originating from slaughterhouse wastes and to investigate its chemical properties to be used as an organic nutrient source in crop cultivation. Dried rumen contents were mixed with fresh blood collected after bleeding of animals in different proportions and dried using tray drier. The dried rumen content-blood (RB) mixture was further mixed with commercially available coir pith in 12 different proportions. The rumen content-blood-coir pith (RBC) mixture was formed into briquettes using a hydraulic biomass briquetting machine. Each organic briquette was five centimetres in diameter and had an average weight of 30-40 grams. The treatments were analyzed for organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen and carbon: nitrogen ratio. The organic briquette that had rumen content with 100 per cent blood and 80 per cent coir pith (T10) recorded the highest total nitrogen (1.76±0.09 per cent) and lowest carbon: nitrogen ratio while highest organic carbon content (45.97±0.93 per cent) was noted in organic briquette that had rumen content with 80 per cent blood and 60 per cent coir pith (T8 ). The study showed that there is considerable potential for development of organic briquettes that are compact, easy to transport and market, and ideal for grow bag cultivation and garden nurseries by using slaughter house wastes as sources of organic nutrient.

Waste management with limited resource input under minimum space is the need of the hour. Black Soldier Fly (BSF)/Hermetia illucens is a fly prevailing and flourishing in our tropical climatic condition and is a miracle insect since it can solve a multitude of global problems like waste management, animal feed production and energy production. This fly is highly reputed in converting low quality biomasses in to high protein, high energy larvae meal. In this study we are assessing the quantity of BSF larvae produced from food waste and the waste reduction efficiency of the BSF larvae. Four kilograms of food waste was kept in a modified bin with 6 replicates and the development of the larvae was through natural breeding. The study revealed that from the above said quantity, an average of 0.567kg of BSF larvae can be produced per bin and average waste reduction efficiency was 73.81%.